Nineteen Sixty Four

The idea of the NY World's Fair has always lingered around the back of my mind as a subject of intrigue and mystery. When I was a kid, on our annual autumn visits to New York, we would drive through Queens, past the abandoned fairgrounds in Flushing Meadows, and see the eerie skeletons of the massive Unisphere, the UFO-like observation towers, the gigantic New York State Pavilion. And my mom would tell us stories about the awe and glamour of the fair, the lights, the technology, the latest and greatest feats of the modern mind...all reduced to a collection of ruins in a grayish park. I just came across a souvenir from one of her visits to the fair, and for me, it brings back all of the fascination of driving past the ruins...

A making-over

Before... (a $5 yard sale find with dysfunctional doors that Jordan talked me into)

After...
Furniture: $5. Paint: $10. Fabric: $13 (the big splurge, from Whipstitch). Dowel: $1. Total = $29.My husband has some good sense.

fridge + guestbook + listmaker + notetaker

The house we live in was built in 1910 and then renovated in the 80's to create three complete living spaces out of one gigantic Midtown mansion. It's about the coziest, quirkiest place I've ever come across in Atlanta, which made it a no-brainer for us (it's also surrounded by a canopy of huge old trees and feels more like a log cabin/treehouse, hence the title of this blog--incidentally). However, our apartment, for all of its character and charm (of which it has much), still has a few minor cringe-inducing elements that I am slowly working on eliminating / updating / making more tolerable...and that without pouring much money into a place that we're only renting. One such element that has recently undergone an extreme makeover is our fridge.

Such a poor, ugly leftover of the 80's, it was...Primer (a household staple we always keep around) + chalboard paint ($10 at Home Depot) =

Voila! Goodbye, ugly old thing. Hello, massive chalkboard, and welcome to our kitchen.

(Obviously, things have gotten a bit out of control.)

Together.

Now presenting...the first in a line of cards/prints that are due to appear in my etsy shop sometime in the next one to seventy years, when I get it together:

To New York

In honor of the fact that in two (2) months and eight (8) days I will be in NYC, here is a roundup of some lovely + functional tributes to the greatest city on earth (and yes...I have plane tickets!).

1. 11x14 New York City Print on wood 2. New York Tourists Calendar 3. Garvey Chair 4. Brooklyn Bridge Architectural Floursack Towels 5. NYC Maps 4 Piece Magnet Set

Nothing in Moderation

A couple of weeks ago, during my bi-monthly scouring of the thrift store two blocks from my house, I picked up a few Reader's Digest condensed books with awesome, retro fabric covers ($.75 each). I had never seen them before, and they are beautiful books! Apparently, Reader's Digest printed them quarterly from 1950-1997, with different stories and cover fabrics, and sent them to all their patrons. And now, mounds of them are turning up in thrift stores (and yes, I have to admit, I also once saw an Anthropologie display made from them). Last week, my amazing engineer husband and I made a lamp out of the books I had, and the product was so fabulous that I've been itching to get my hands on more of them.

Well...be careful what you itch for. While in Chattanooga for a gig this past weekend, Steph and I spent some of our free Saturday thrifting, and I was hoping-hoping-hoping that America's Thrift would have some of the books. So, I looked up, and there was a small shelf with about 12 of them. And then I looked to the left and realized that the ENTIRE top shelf, which runs along the super long wall of the store, was full of them. For 25 cents each. So, we grabbed a shopping cart and started piling them on. The result: mounds and mounds of colorful vintage books -101 to be exact-, a whole lot of weird looks, and a very disgruntled checkout clerk. (I also scored a stack of various vintage books from the free bin at McKay and a stack of personal-reading-list-or-old-favorite books, also from McKay, that I couldn't help but purchase. But that's for a different post.)

What could possibly be more satisfying than bringing home 117 new books? (Quick break for husband praise: Jordan did not kill me, or send me off to the Atlanta asylum, or roll his eyes. He laughed a lot and then commented on how much cash we'll get to split between us once we've made the books into awesome products and sold them. I definitely married the right guy.)















Soon to become...



















I also have big plans for a coffee/reading table made of them...or maybe I'll just keep them in stacks around my house :).

Photos courtesy of Elise Ziegenbein Excessive Accumulation and Bibliophagism, Inc.

Experiments

Between working full-time and my tendency to bite off more than I can chew in all the rest of life, the cooking muse tends to come and go. A few weeks off, a few weeks on...and so it goes. This week, however, the muse hit, and last night it resulted in a few new yummy concoctions. Grilled orzo salad + rosemary potato bakery bread + broiled strawberries with sour cream and caramelized brown sugar = happy foodies. (Visit the fabulous smittenkitchen for the source of dessert inspiration. I substituted strawberries because rasperries are sinfully expensive, but it was a winner nevertheless.)

For once, I wrote down what I put in the orzo salad and now here it is, preserved for posterity. I hope posterity likes fresh oregano.

Grilled Orzo Salad

1 package orzo
juice of 1/2 lemon
3 tb. balsamic vinegar
6 tb. red wine vinegar
olive oil (enough to coat pasta)
several sprigs fresh oregano
small handful fresh basil leaves
2 tsp. Italian seasoning
1/4 cup grated romano cheese
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
2 zucchini
2 red peppers
1 red onion
1/2 red cabbage, chopped
5-6 large cloves garlic

Boil orzo in rapidly boiling, salted water for 10 minutes or until al dente. Drain and rinse with cold water; drain thoroughly. Mince garlic and sautee in several tbsp of olive oil until fragrant; mix garlic & oil into pasta. Toss with additional olive oil until coated.

Cut veggies into halves, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and grill on low heat for about 12 minutes, turning often. Chop finely and add to pasta.

Add lemon juice, vinegars, spices, cheese, and cabbage, and toss.

Serve with a delicious red wine and rosemary foccacia bread, if at all possible.